While they walked back to the canoe, Link felt sickening chills going through his body, wrenching his insides. He felt like he had suddenly become his own enemy. He had done this to Daegal. He was the reason he might never get him back. Link felt like throwing up.

Zelda could see the nausea portrayed in his face. She took his arm gently, and for a moment Link wanted her to hold on, but then he pulled away and dropped to his knees at the side of the canoe.

"I can't," he panted. "Not anymore, I can't do it."

Zelda was immediately down on the ground with him. "Look at me," she said, and waited for him to lift his head and look into her eyes. "I don't like it either. But we're almost done, okay? We have a mission, we have a schedule, we have somewhere to be. Focus on that."

Link nodded slowly, then shakily stood up with Zelda's assistance. He was still very pale and dizzy, but he stepped into the canoe. Zelda stepped in after him. She picked up the oar that Link had dropped.

"Let's leave now," she said to Inidra and Kali.

00000

The Eldin Mountains were an unfamiliar sight to Goddess Nayru. The ground was covered with hot sand, and the sun was glaring down. Dust filled the air.

Din's temple rested on a ledge below the top of the Eldin Volcano, dirty and hot. These days, it was maintained by the Gorons who lived there, perhaps the only species left who still worshiped her.

Din knew that Nayru would rather do any number of unpleasant things before she voluntarily set foot in the Eldin Region, so she was curious as to why she had come.

"You have risen to an incomparable level of foolishness," Nayru remarked, already uncomfortable with her surroundings.

Din scoffed. "So, you have come to insult me. Don't you have more important things to do, like splashing around in the water and doing magic tricks?"

Nayru ignored Din's stinging comments. "How dare you try to destroy Hyrule?" she shouted. "This is our land, we created it. How dare you let it crumble?"

"If you are referring to the two children, you can forget it. You will not change my mind."

"Link and Zelda are doing everything they can to save the kingdom," Nayru argued. "And they will succeed, even if you refuse to cooperate. They care about Hyrule more than you do."

The sky suddenly darkened to a muddy color. The ground shook violently, and rocks began to break away from the ledges to roll down the mountain. But Nayru stood her ground. Din could throw a tantrum if she wanted.

"I am doing this for the good of Hyrule!" Din exclaimed. "You are too blind to see that. Haven't you grown tired of being ignored by your human subjects? Don't you want the feeling of being worshipped again?"

"The time of the Goddesses is over," answered Nayru. "We must leave this world to the humans, and make sure it does not die."

Thunder ripped through the dark sky. The earthquakes grew more violent, and the peaks of the Eldin Volcano were bulging and cracking. Gas and smoke filled the air, enough to suffocate them both, had they been human.

"You are in MY region," Din roared. "This is not your place to tell me what to do. Go home, Nayru. Go home!"

"An innocent boy must die because of you."

Din let out a wicked cackle. "The boy was never innocent. He is the reincarnation of the Demon King, and has been since birth. His corruption was inevitable."

"You were never fit to be a Goddess," Nayru retorted, and immediately regretted it.

From a large crack in the volcano's summit spewed hot streams of lava. The mountain erupted like deadly fireworks, shooting fire up into the sky, landing on the ground and sizzling. Only then did Nayru realize that she had truly overstayed her welcome.

00000

The trip down the Zora River was swift, and to Link and Zelda's surprise, didn't take very long. Zelda had the oar first, and when her arms got tired, she handed it off to Link, who had since come to his senses. He was glad for a job, something to keep his mind from wandering. He kept an eye out for Kali and Inidra, but they were very easy to spot, as they glittered and caught the light under the water.

The Ladin Pass led straight through the Ruletan Mountains, so it was protected and secure. No one, not even the Zora Queen herself, could say whether it was made by Zora magic or Goron rock-eating. It had been there for as long as anyone could remember, longer than the Hylians were in power.

The pass itself was a rocky ledge that they had to travel through on foot. Once they reached it, Inidra tied up the canoe so it would still be there when they returned.

Travelling on foot was clearly not comfortable for the Zoras, but they led the way without delaying.

Link stayed close to Zelda. He still had so many questions that he wanted to ask.

"You didn't know you had a shard?"

"No," said Zelda, dismissing him.

"I feel like this is all my fault," murmured Link. "I was born like this, to end up destroying him."

"Normally, it is a great honor to be bestowed with a Triforce shard," Zelda replied.

"Is that how you see it?" Link asked, a little pugnaciously.

Zelda didn't answer him. She only stared straight ahead, obviously not in the mood to talk about it. Instead of trying to make conversation, Link focused on the magic pouch that he Zora Queen had given them. He pulled out a tiny bag, which grew to the size of his hand once it was removed. Link looked inside and gasped.

"Five hundred rupees," he said aloud, knowing it would get Zelda's attention. "Queen Damay gave us five hundred rupees."

Zelda showed a little interest, but gave her usual pessimistic reply. "She probably gave us so much because she knew the Gorons would never cooperate with a member of the royal family." Then, her attitude changed. "It feels good to not have to hide anymore.

Link knew what she meant. Since arriving at the Zora Domain, they hadn't had to keep any secrets about who they were, or where they were going, or what they were doing. But Link didn't feel the total relief just yet. He was still only pretending to go along with Zelda's plan of killing Daegal, but as of yet, he hadn't come up with a plan of his own. Something would come to him.

They stopped to eat after a while, savoring the Zora meals. It would probably be the last good food they tasted for a while. The Zoras had packed them enough to last through the Ladin Pass, but once they made it to the Eldin Region, they would be the guests of the Gorons. The Gorons ate rocks, if anything at all. For the hundredth time, Link wished Jørn was with them. He would know what to do.

"I should be going with her," he had said to Link once, when he found out that Lilah would be travelling to Sari. "Something could happen to her. She can't go alone."

"Liliah will be fine," Link had assured him. "She's going home. It's not like she's never made the trip before."

Jørn, only nineteen at the time, was sitting at their dining room table, which had been, as usual, littered with dishes and utensils. "Last time she made the trip, she was three years old."

"If you go to Sari, what am I going to do?" Link asked.

Jørn shrugged and gave him a smile. "Whatever you want. Go on an adventure. Meet a girl."

Link's face twisted in disgust. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying here, with Daegal. Maybe his family will feed me while you're gone."

"You need to learn to take care of yourself," Jørn chided. "You're fourteen now. I've taught you how to work in the fields, you can gather your own food and cook your own meals." He sighed. "And anyway, I'm not going to Sari. Liliah's parents would sooner have her go alone than have an Alf accompany her."

Jørn had only recently begun to speak negatively of his origins. It was strange to Link; Jørn had never seemed ashamed of being an Alf in the past, and Link didn't see anything wrong with it himself. He liked that Jørn was different, and he was glad to be living with him, since his mother had died many years previously.

"Do you love her?" asked Link.

Jørn blushed. "I won't talk about this with you. You're too young."

"Do you?"

"I love to travel," Jørn replied. "That's all. I've been all over Hyrule. I've seen many things, and I miss it. Even a short trip to Sari would be satisfying."

"But what about the pollution? Wouldn't you get sick?"

"Doesn't make a difference to me," said Jørn. "I can live anywhere, survive anything. I've had to."

Link snapped out of his memory when he felt Zelda's hand on his shoulder, trying to get his attention.

"What?"

"We're leaving," she said. "What were you thinking about?"

Shuddering, Link stood up. He didn't answer her.

00000

The rocky Ruletan Mountains turned into sand by the following morning. Under the hot sun, Link removed his jacket and tied it around his waist.

"We are almost there," announced Kali. He pointed an iridescent hand into the distance. "Do you see that mountain, standing out above the rest? That is the Eldin Volcano. The Gorons live there."

Link had never seen, nor been so close, to a volcano before. It made his legs go numb with fear. He didn't know how volcanoes worked or how often they erupted, but Zelda seemed calm when he looked over, so he relaxed a bit.

"Are we going up the volcano?" he asked Kali.

"Eventually, I would imagine you will," Kali answered. "But we will not be taking you there. The Eldin region is too hot a climate for the Zoras. Instead, a Goron will guide you."

"He has been guiding people through the pass for years. His name is Rudolf," explained Inidra.

This surprised Link. Until then, he had never given much thought to the fact that Gorons had names. He supposed it was no stranger than the Zoras having names. What shocked him most was the civilization of the non-human inhabitants of Hyrule. They were just like people. In fact, they seemed to be better than people. More advanced, more progressed. They had no conflict, not that Link could see. Their primary concern was maintaining their culture and not succumbing to the Hylians. In that aspect, Link felt that they had something in common with the Hillwinds.

It was uncomfortably hot in the Eldin region, but Link had a feeling that it would only get worse. He was sweating profusely, and his hair stuck to his forehead. It was beginning to grow too long for his liking. He noticed that Zelda had tied her hair up, which gave him an idea. Using the drawstring from the old supply bag, he tied his shaggy hair into a bun. It cooled off his face and kept his hair out of his eyes.

Link splashed the contents of a canteen into his face, and then emptied the rest into his mouth, when he heard Kali call out.

"There he is."

At first, Link didn't see anything. All he saw was the rugged, sandy landscape. Then, when his eyes adjusted, he saw a boulder-shaped figure made up of compact rocks. Across its arms and legs were carvings of all sorts of designs that Link didn't understand. The chimney at the top of its head was gently smoking, and when he looked closely, two glittering gemstone eyes stared back at him. The sight was enough to make Link want to take a few steps back.

"This is where we must leave you," said Inidra. Both Kali's skin and her own had begun to dry out in the sun, causing them to lose their lively, glistening look.

"That is Rudolf," instructed Kali. "He will take you to the Goron Domain. You will be safe with him." He bowed to Link and Zelda, and Inidra copied him.

"Thank you for guiding us," Zelda said gratefully.

"It has been an honor to assist in the preservation of Hyrule," remarked Inidra.

Link didn't blame them when they hurried away, eager to return to the wet Lanayru climate. When they were out of sight, Link and Zelda made their way slowly towards the Goron that was waiting for them.

Rudolf opened his mouth to speak, and Link didn't know what he expected his voice to sound like.

"Travellers," he said with a low grunt. "On behalf of the boulder-folk who live upon these mountains, I welcome you to the Goron Domain."